MAGNUS

It was noon of our second day on the road that we ran into trouble. A pair of the Gust Mantises were hiding in the brush at the top of a hill if one were traveling from Kerrick’s Hill. I had gotten into the habit of using my Aether Sight to keep watch as we traveled, realizing that the flows would stand out compared to the trees and underbrush around us. Unfortunately I stumbled on this trick after almost tripping over one of my companions who was answering the call of nature. Tak had little modesty, having spent most of his young life aboard a ship. I don’t think he will let me live it down though.

When I saw the two ambush predators I stopped the group and studied them for a moment. Their aether was wrong somehow. The flow traveled from their origin point in their thorax up, but it seemed to shift wildly at two focal points. At those two points it just seemed to scatter and flow into their bodies directly.

I whispered, “I think they have Aether Madness.”

I explained what I saw and Mai said, “That sounds like what Professor Nacht described in class. Do you think they have gone full monster?”

I grimaced and replied, “Based on the fact that they are waiting in ambush on the main route we can’t really assume otherwise.”

Takahashi rested a hand on my shoulder and said, “We know the madness can’t be fixed. Mai and I could use the practice.”

I wasn’t so sure it couldn’t be fixed though. If Ezekiel could bind a Talent to a creatures aether flow, was there any reason he couldn’t repair the damage these had incurred. That didn’t matter at the moment since he wasn’t here and he didn’t know how. It was something I needed to put in my notes for the professors to look into, and maybe talk to the old man about.

I bowed my head briefly before asking, “Do you want help?”

He shook his head and answered, “No, I want to see how Sri’dat fares against creatures from other lands. Mai?”

She slammed her fists together, a set of armored gauntlets forming over them and said, “I’ve been itching for a good fight. The sparring in class is a bit tame.”

“What would Master Ryu say about using those?” Tak asked his sister.

“A true expert does not need tools,” she cited back to him, before smirking and saying, “We aren’t true experts yet, besides I like the crunch.”

Tak sighed as he slid forward and threw a rock at where one of the Mantises was hiding.

The creature jumped when the stone hit it in the side, three feet in the air and onto a nearby tree. It’s cohort also jumped towards the approaching siblings, one bladed forearm slashing forward in the air to release an edge of condensed wind at Takahashi.

I activated a Barrier card to prevent the attack from reaching us as Tak twisted to the side without losing a step. My sight showed aether gathering the wind to Mai’s feet as she sprung forward in a leap that covered the almost twenty yards to the mantis clinging in the tree. Her armored fist also had wind swirling around it as she struck out to impact the tree as her target sprang off of it to come down behind her. The trunk shattered as the swirling wind ripped a head sized hole in it. Mai didn’t slow as she used her momentum, and the hand already in the tree, to swing herself up and spring off of it at her opponent. Three quick deflections of the creature's blades were followed by a cross block that caught the monster's left hand scything blade between her armored forearms. I watched as she twisted her arms over and around the limb before a sharp snap sounded and the blade broke off causing a high pitched whistling scream to emerge. It tried to hit her with it’s other blade, but this time she twisted bringing her left hand up to brace while her right hand came down like a cat pinning a mouse on the joint. Aetherical wind solidified around her hand forming claws that ripped through the segmented limb. She spun the forearm blade across her right arm and slammed it point first into the creature's open mandibles, silencing it’s screams.

Tak meanwhile moved steadily forward towards his opponent, calmly twisting around the wind blades that it was throwing at him. It took me looking carefully at the aether around him to see how he was perceiving the almost invisible attacks. Fine tendrils of his aether floated around him, like spider thread, to sense any disturbance of the air. Then with his own practiced motions he would evade just enough to dodge the attack without losing his momentum. It honestly was like he was dancing rather than fighting, and I could see the difference in the siblings mentality in how they fought. Tak was calm as a gentle breeze, moving where it willed and slipping through the cracks. Mai on the other hand was fierce and as unpredictable as a gust that blew down houses.

Tak closed on his opponent, which tried the same slashing technique it’s deceased ally had tried. Tak, unlike his sister, simply flowed around the strike, letting its own limbs prevent it from using the other arm. His left hand shot forward in a chopping motion almost identical to that used by the mantis, but as he struck lightning crackled around his bladed hand. When the hand struck arcs flowed up the creature, clearly stunning it, before his other hand came around with condensed air to remove it’s head.

I let the barrier drop as both monsters dispersed in particles of light. I could overhear Tak say to his sister, “That swift slashing strike they use is effective if you have a bladed forearm.”

“Yeah, but not all practitioners have our extra abilities,” she said as we approached.

Richard, who was always interested in making weapons, said, “Why not make a bladed forearm guard?”

Mai looked at him quizzically before she brightened and said, “Oooh that would be fun. Do you think one could be designed in an equipment binding, so it could be brought out when it was needed?”

I shook my head at the excitable woman, “Only if you want to strap on the gauntlets when you go into battle. I’m not sure how Professor Stormleaf does it, but I haven’t seen anyone else have equipment bindings within equipment bindings.”

Tak interjected, “It’s probably a Talent, which means others may have it, but not know about it unless they tried. Since we are always told it can’t be done, why would they try?”

Jessica said, “So that was Sri’dat then?”

Tak nodded, “Yes, or at least a slightly modified version. Mai and I can manipulate wind and to a lesser extent water and lightning, which led to slightly different techniques than most students of the art.”

“Effective,” was all Jessica said as she patted her holstered crossbows, “but I’ll stick with putting bolts in them from a distance. Unless Magnus wants to make a pair of pistols for me.”

“This one is a prototype, I would need to improve it much more before I made any others,” I demurred.

I also remember how unhappy my grandfather was when I made it. It would probably be best to check with him before I went about making more. With how excited Professor Schneider was about the unique bindings on it, I was pretty certain he was going to try and make one of his own.

Vara whispered, “Company.”

My vision snapped towards where my ears now told me someone was approaching along the road. Cresting the hill were four men in leather armor, with large hunting bows on their back, and forearm guards made of what looked like chitin from Gust Mantises Their apparent leader, a broad shouldered and black bearded man stopped their group and called out, “Afternoon younglings. Have you seen any sign of monsters along the trail?”

I called back, “Two mantises were here up until a few moments ago. They seemed to be waiting in ambush on the road. We dealt with them.”

One of the hunters, a teenager that looked related to the bearded one, cursed softly. The older man patted him on the shoulder and said, “Well damn, guess you beat us to it. I take it none of you have the knack for harvesting the beasties then?”

I examined his aether flow as Tak took over the conversation, “No, sir. My sister and I have seen it before though. How sometimes when a creature is dispersed it leaves part of itself behind. Is that something you can do?”

Three talents in his pattern; one was a variation on the elemental touched talents, an insect variation? That was new. The second was what looked to be an increased aether recharge rate that seemed to be a relatively common Talent. The third then must be the harvesting talent. Two of the other three also seemed to have it, while the youngest didn’t. I could see part of it seeming to form in his origin point though. Interesting, it seemed that Talents could develop on their own, maybe by proximity? More information for the research journal.

There was a short conversation before the four moved into the woods directly, seeming to follow a trail the mantises must have left when they set up their ambush. There were likely more that had gone wild; and like the Crimson Imps, the Gust Mantis was an aggressive species that was in no danger of dying out.

When the four were out of sight I quickly dropped my bag and pulled out one of my notebooks, before drawing out the binding I had seen. My memory was good, but it was best if I put it down now.

“Is that what I think it is?” Vara asked.

I nodded as I drew the Talent in my personal notebook, and the notebook that would copy itself for Professor Siodha.

“How many of them had it?” Jessica asked.

“Three of them, but it looked like it was forming in the youngest,” I replied.

“Now that’s a Talent I could make use of,” Jessica said.

“Considering how valuable monster parts are, it would be a popular one,” Richard said.

I finished drawing out the design and said, “Let’s get into the village. I’d wager our next meal that Professor Siodha is going to want me to keep an eye out for any other useful Talents while we are out and about.”

“I’m not going to take that bet,” Vara said with a smile